Monday, 10 January 2011

I Have a Bike Again!

There is still no news about how the paperwork is going to repatriate the Leading Ladies back to the UK. I will follow this up with the shippers today to find out what the current status is.

I did however get my red custom bike back over the weekend. This meant driving a 792 miles round trip in 3 different countries and crossing the Irish Sea on a ferry!

My red bike is now three years old and was in need of a little bit of work, so while I was on my tour of the USA, it went back to Waterford Harley-Davidson in Ireland where is was built. The main thing that needed to be looked at was a starting problem. The bike has a large engine at 1800cc / 110 Cubic inches, and being a v-twin with a lot of compression and a heavy starter motor, the battery was never really big enough to start the bike properly. But, there isn’t room to put a larger battery in the bike, so I have always struggled to start the bike especially when it is really cold.

Waterford H-D therefore took the top of the engine off and installed a decompression system that reduces the compression on the first few turns of the engine thereby needing less power to crank the engine over. It works and the bike is now much easier to start. The twins carbs were tuned and a few paint dings were touched up, along with a few other bits and pieces.

The bike was ready so I drove from home (A on the map below) to Waterford which means heading west across a good deal of southern England, over the Severn Bridge (B), right across Wales where I got a ferry to Ireland and on to Waterford (C)....

I did think about riding the bike back, but only for about 3 nano-seconds as the weather forecast was dreadful with rain and snow forecast. I therefore jumped in my car and took the trailer. This was crossing the Seven Bridge....

Driving onto the ferry....

The ferry was pretty big, so I went outside on the sun-deck (they have got to be kidding calling it that!) and took a few pictures....

Famous across the world for its crystal, Waterford is the fifth largest city in Ireland. Sitting on the River Suir, it’s history can be traced back to 914 AD when the city was founded by Vikings....

I stayed in the Tower Hotel, so-called because it sits opposite Reginald’s Tower, said to be the oldest civic building in Ireland....

I walked around the centre of Waterford and noticed a Merry-Go-Round and Christmas tree in the town square, no doubt both fenced off due to imminent removal post Christmas....

I spend most of the day at Waterford H-D chatting with the guys and some of the customers. The ferry back wasn’t until late at night so I had plenty of time. Lenny the Dealer Principle was on good form and we sat and talked about all sorts of issues for a long time. This is their workshop....

The ferry back across the Irish Sea left late in the evening and docked at one o’clock in the morning. I had to wait until every other car had driven off the ferry as my trailer was too tall to exit without lowering the ramp inside the boat so I could leave by the lorry exit....

It was a long drive home through the night and I was tired when I arrived a 7am. I unloaded the bike later after the sun had come up and finally I had a bike in my garage once again....

18 comments:

I am embarassed that our country can't find a way to release a single motorcycle. Gosh, are we that dumb?Anyway, glad you finally have a bike in the garage. Thanks for taking pictures of the trip.Did not know that was where Waterford crystals came from. Guess they made our giant ball that drops in Times Square on New Years Eve.

Gary: With threats of snow and rain I would have driven too. It made for a very long day for you but luckily it was at night, presumably with much less traffic, esp with a humongus trailer. I liked the old historic buildings, we don't have many of those over here.

That was a long trip Gary. Like you were in the middle of nowhere on a vast ocean! I much prefer you on solid ground! I'm sure you had a great visit with the guys. I sure do wish something would happen with the Leading Ladies and you would get her home!What a beautiful area you live. It's so fun to google map around the streets. I feel like I can visit without having to go so far from home!Hi to all!

Glad you have at least one baby back in the stable. Hope the second one returns home soon. Do you think it would be faster if you were actually there, sitting on someones head? Do you think that your distance might be preventing an urgency on the customs part?

You had a really long trip but at least you made the most fun out of it. I really did enjoy the pictures you took of your trip. Seems like we were there with you too. And the happiest part for me is when your bike finally did arrive home and safely.

Patti – There is no need to be embarrassed. You should see what officials in my country do sometimes! It is a little frustrating, but it’s not really a problem providing I get the bike back before the riding season starts over here. A few years ago I went on a tour of the Waterford Crystal glass factory and found it to be a fascinating blend of old and new methods of working glass.

Bob – You are right, as driving through the night meant there was very little traffic. That tower in Waterford was built in the beginning of the 13th century. I did get some news about the Leading ladies. Watch this space for a post shortly!

Canajun – Before I got the red bike back, I needed to go into my garage a few days ago and looked at the two empty spaces where my bikes should have been. I stood there and thought “I do miss them!”.

Donna – You are most welcome.

Mike – I will try to get more posts in with pictures from here over the spring and summer. I have quite a few long rides planned across Europe for this year and I always take my camera on those, but rarely do I take pictures of my own country. I guess that is because we take for granted what we see often. There must be a few lessons in there for us all....

Eve – Spending almost a full day at the dealership was great fun and people in Ireland are incredibly welcoming. The journey was long, but worthwhile, so I was happy to do it. It is a pretty big sea, but thankfully it was calm on both sailings.

Lori – I thought about going back to see if I could move things along more quickly, but it is a long way! Plus, providing I could see an end to the paperwork trail (or is that trial?) I was happy to let it takes its course. The saving grace is the weather here is dreadful at the moment, so I probably wouldn’t be out riding anyway.

Martha – In the end I was glad I took the trailer. The ride back would have been fun, but miserably cold and wet. And the good thing? I didn’t need to spend hours cleaning the red bike afterwards!

bluekat – I agree about the red bike looking lonely, but some progress has been made on getting the Leading Ladies back....

Cynthia – It was good to be on a trip where I had enough time to relax, talk to lots of people and walk around the city.

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What is this blog about?

This blog was originally started to record a five month, 21000 mile tour of the US on my Harley-Davidson. I continue to use this blog to record my own motorcycling adventures, wherever they may be, along with my thoughts and opinions about motorcycling generally.

About Me

Having devoted most of my adult life to being a ‘company man’, the transition to the next phase of my life away from the construction industry was always going to include some challenges. Planning and then making my dream trip to explore America on my Harley-Davidson proved to be the ideal vehicle for clearing my mind of old ways of thinking and being. I rode 21,475 miles, in 27 US states in four-and-a-half months.
My motorcycling trips have continued, with journeys across much of Europe, New Zealand, North Africa and Cuba.
A few years ago, I set up and now run Tour1, which takes riders on Harley-Davidson Authorised tours across Europe. See www.tour1.co.uk.
I live just north of London in the UK.

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US Tour - My Favourites Places I Went To....

It is difficult to choose, but here is my list of the highlights of my US tour, in the order I saw them in....